by Juniper Hart
“What insider?” Wes demanded.
“Amy,” Danica breathed. “She was trying to help me. That’s what she was trying to tell me.”
Lane nodded before turning to Wes. “As for you…”
“I know,” Wes said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Can I just have a chance to say goodbye?”
Lane blinked at them.
“I thought you two were living together in some scandalous off-campus relationship,” she said. It took Wes several seconds to understand what she was saying.
“I-I’ve been absolved?” he choked. Danica’s eyes widened with pleasure, and she gasped as Lane nodded.
“Consider this your one ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card, Wes,” she said. “Treason in the name of love isn’t going to fly next time.”
“There won’t be a next time,” he assured her, swinging his arms around Danica’s waist and pulling her close. He nuzzled his nose against the skin of her neck and inhaled her deeply. “Thank you, Lane,” he murmured.
“Your decision was unanimous,” Lane replied with a chuckle, winking.
“What?” Wes asked in disbelief. “Everyone voted to spare me?”
Lane shrugged and turned back toward the church. “What can I say? We’re all suckers for a love story.”
Danica and Wes stared at one another, the shine in their eyes reflecting endlessly between them like the moonlight to water.
“Could this really be it?” Wes gasped. “Did we make it out by the skin of our teeth?”
Danica nodded, the disbelief apparent on her face also.
“I am never letting you out of my sight again,” he vowed. “Mark my words. I might actually get you fitted for a ball and chain.”
“You think the people at school talk now,” Danica joked. “Imagine the gossip then.”
His smile softened, and he collected her against his chest, breathing in her feminine scent until he felt like his heart was going to burst.
“I love you, Danica,” he murmured.
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
Wes squeezed Danica’s hand tightly, a kiss finding its way to the top of her head, but it didn’t do much to alleviate the fear clinging to her heart.
“Well?” she prompted. “What is it?”
Dr. Burnes studied her face for a long moment, intelligence shining in her eyes.
“This is going to be a difficult concept for you to handle,” she said slowly, sliding back on the swivel stool to take in the couple. Danica struggled to sit up, but Wes eased her back against the bed softly. His eyes narrowed at the ultrasound screen, jaw tightening slightly.
“She’s still pregnant,” he guessed, and the notion filled Danica with worry.
Oh, please, she thought. I had just gotten used to the fact that everything with Gabriel was behind us. The miscarriage was painful, but was it really the worst thing that could have happened?
It had only been a month since the Council had acquitted them, and since then, Danica had learned to tentatively embrace the life she had so desperately wanted since her childhood. If she was still pregnant with Gabriel’s baby, would she ever really be free of his shadow?
“Yes and no,” Dr. Burnes responded, causing them both to look at her dubiously.
“You’re going to have to elaborate on that,” Danica said. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re pregnant, yes,” she explained. “But not with the child I told you was lost a month ago.”
“Oh…” Danica wasn’t sure if she should feel elated or upset.
“I see your confusion, and you’re rightfully so,” the doctor continued. “Because at the time you lost the baby, you were already pregnant with another one, perhaps by two or three weeks. It was far too early to see on the ultrasound, but I can see him clearly now. You’re six weeks along.”
“What?” Danica and Wes cried in unison. “How the hell does that even happen?” she asked.
Dr. Burnes grinned and shrugged.
“It’s rare,” she replied. “But, it’s possible to release another egg while already being pregnant.”
“So… I lost Gabriel’s baby, but I’m still carrying Wes’?” Danica demanded in shock.
“It appears so,” Dr. Burnes replied. “Congratulations.”
Danica turned and looked at Wes, her face as stunned as his.
“Do you believe this?” she whispered. “After everything else?”
“I can’t tell if you’re happy or sad,” he said worriedly. Danica released a loud laugh and reached up to pull him closer.
“I’m over the damned moon, you fool!” she giggled. “I didn’t lose my chance to be that mother I always wanted to be.”
“You never lost that chance,” Wes told her gravely, his eyes fixating on her elated gaze. “I always knew you’d have everything you ever wanted.”
She blinked away the tears of happiness pooling in her eyes, but they still fell across her cheeks and landed on his hands.
“I’m so glad you saved me,” she whispered, and he smiled.
“Or are you the one who saved me?” he replied.
Revenge of the Bears
Bear Shifter Romance Collection
Revenge of the Bears
Text Copyright © 2019 by Juniper Hart
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing, 2019
Publisher
Secret Woods Books
[email protected]
www.SecretWoodsBooks.com
Revenge of the Bears Prologue
One Thousand Years Ago
Musky, dank and humid, the air about them stank to high heaven and clung to the very fabric of the beings about them.
It was not uncommon, this thick and rank atmosphere, even in this part of the kingdom where the ladies and gentlemen wore coats of silk, their jewels sparkling against the midday sun to taunt the eyes of the paupers who hid in the shadows, hoping for even a crumb to be tossed in their direction.
Among them, Helios watched, his mouth curled into a sneer of contempt, crystalline eyes flashing from beneath the hood of his frayed cloak.
“Look at them,” he spat, his voice barely above a hiss as he snarled. “Adorned in the finest garments while others around them starve.”
A tinkling laugh met his words and Helios turned his gaze toward Carina in bemused surprise.
“You find this amusing?” he demanded of his mate. “They are despicable.”
“They are,” she conceded.
“We are considered hideous beasts. I have never known a demon to go without while his neighbor drinks from gold grails,” Helios continued contemptuously. “The shameful irony of it all.”
“They will end themselves,” Carina replied brightly, tossing her head back so that her own hood fell back to reveal a mane of raven hair, gleaming against the sunlight. “Why must you fixate on the mortals when one day, they will be the cause of their own extinction?”
“I fixate because they continue to breathe the same air as I do,” Helios snapped. “I fixate because we cannot thrive as demons while they continue to exist. I will end them all, you may mark my words, my love. One day, the Enchanted will wander the earth without the encumbrance of mortals among us.”
“To what end, Helios?” Carina purred, knowing precisely what were Helios’ intentions. He turned to her, a grin of malice lining the malevolent blue of his irises. The male demon knew his mate only longed to hear the words aloud, their designs for the future arousing her in the most sinful way.
Of course, Helios was only t
oo happy to provide the lyrics to her perverse sonata.
“When they are gone, then we will turn our attention to the others,” Helios replied, gathering Carina into his arms to stare into her eyes. “Beginning with the wretchedly cheerful fairies and moving along until only the demons rule this land as the gods intended.”
“I daresay you are stretching the truth to say that,” she chuckled. “I cannot think of a single god who wished that for us.”
The gleam in her eyes told Helios that his words filled her with desire.
“Then the gods must be daft,” he concluded. “Or perhaps we are the gods after all.”
He looked wistfully about and Carina sighed, sensing his yearning.
“One bite,” she agreed, knowing that it would be the only way to placate his need for bloodshed that day. “One mortal of your choosing and then we must wait until nightfall to attack the rest.”
“You drive a hard bargain, dear heart,” Helios murmured but he had already turned to feast his eyes on his next victim. There were so many to choose from, so many worthless souls to claim. Should he taste the succulent blood of the noblemen or the embittered plasma of the poor? What did his pallet demand that sticky, hot day?
“Helios…”
He turned back to look at his lover. Carina’s face slowly lost the almost serene smile, a scowl twisting her face as she looked beyond her mate, but before Helios could look to see what she saw, another voice whispered in his ear.
“I have banished you both from the kingdom,” Alaric Aldwin hissed, his tone unpleasant and Helios felt a shudder of apprehension slither down his spine. “Why have you returned?”
Helios snorted, his back stiffening as he stared at the wizard-demon hybrid and ruler of all the Enchanted.
“You cannot banish us,” Helios scoffed with more confidence than he felt. “We have every right to be here as dictated by the Charter.”
“The Charter does not apply to you,” Alaric growled, looming over the pair. It was only then that Helios realized he was levitating slightly off the ground. “It applies to those who respect and uphold it. I have given you ample warnings. Now, you have exceeded the limits of my patience.”
Helios grinned hideously, the silver tips of his fangs exposed as he leered up at Alaric.
“And what will you do?” he taunted. “There is not a substance or being on the planet which will end us. All you do is squawk of tranquility between the mortals and the Enchanted but truly, what will you do to sustain it?”
There was a truth to his words yet Helios could not help but feel unsettled when Alaric’s face did not depict a modicum of concern.
“There will be an accord among all living beings, mortal and immortal,” Alaric insisted. “It is why we have the Council of Seven and why I created us all. None will be more powerful than the next.”
“Spare us your sanctimonious sermons, Aldwin. You are out of your element now. You have created beings more powerful than yourself and there is nothing you can do about it.”
A blade appeared in Alaric’s strong hands and without warning, he drove it down, straight into the heart of Carina.
Time seemed to slow as the female demon fell to her knees, an expression of shock and pain engulfing her features. A long, pale hand reached out toward Helios but he could not bring himself to understand what had happened.
There was nothing that could stop the demons. Everyone knew this as fact.
And yet his mate began to dissolve into a pile of ash at his feet and Alaric withdrew the sword from her melting body.
“What did you do?” Helios gasped, his words barely a croak. “What is that?”
“I, with the help of the bears, have devised a way to put an end to your tyranny,” Alaric replied evenly even though there was regret in his eyes. “You cannot be trusted among any of us, Helios, and now you will pay the ultimate price.”
Again, the sword, forged of something Helios did not know, came barreling down to land squarely in Helios’ shoulder before he could react. Alaric opened his mouth to speak but as he did, screams erupted through the laneway. Alaric withdrew the weapon, spinning to meet the eyes of a terrified lady-in-waiting and her chaperone.
“Help! Help us!” the woman screamed, her voice reverberating through the square. Helios, enveloped in a pain he had never known, took the distraction and stumbled away before Alaric could finish what he had started.
Deeply wounded but still alive, he found himself in the underbelly of the city, among the rats and vermin as black blood oozed from his shoulder. There was no sign of Alaric in the bowels of the earth but Helios knew he would not be found beneath the city.
It was only then that he permitted himself to fall against the stench-infused walls, his breathing labored.
The agony was great, the flesh of his shoulder dying as he stared, but it was little compared to the torment he felt knowing that his mate was gone.
Carina. The love of his life and mate for over two thousand years had been stolen from him as he watched.
Alaric Aldwin. The bears. They will not be forgotten. They will face a wrath greater than any this world has ever seen, he vowed, unconsciousness overtaking him.
But for him to avenge his lover’s death, he would need to stay alive.
And I will—for as long as it takes to seek my vengeance on them all.
Bear’s Desire
Revenge of the Bears
Prologue
In the pale moonlight, the lake seemed to be made of glass. There was not a ripple from a fish or nocturnal bird seeking a late-night snack to swoop down and steal away on the surface. It was as if Helios were truly the only being left alone on the earth, only silence and inky darkness seeping deeper into his already charred soul.
He dipped a foot into the peaceful water, angered that it seemed to sleep when he could get no reprieve, even though, if he were to consider it, he would realize that it was precisely what he wanted out of life.
But reasoning was not his way. Helios was one to react with fury and anger, not sanity and rationality. And he apologized to no one for it. After all, even if he wanted to, to whom would he cry? There was no one to share his worries or fears, not that he would freely admit to either.
Indignantly, he splashed, making waves toward the center of the pool. Instantly, an owl responded in the distance, the hoot reverberating through the secluded area as if to mock him. Helios, though, knew that the sound was made because of a newcomer, not as a result of his splashing.
He was soon on his feet, whirling, his teeth bared as he spun to see who had disrupted his endless brooding. Of course, it could only be one being, and there was really no surprise when he saw who it was.
“What are you doing here, Vaughan?” Helios demanded, his eyes flashing with annoyance. The half-formed demon limped from the shadows, nearing him on the dock with his head down.
“I’m sorry to intrude, Helios, but I have news.”
Helios grunted, sinking back onto the dock with his usual petulance and turning back to the water. The words meant little to him in the grand scheme of things. Any news that Vaughan might have would hardly be of use to him.
“What is it?” he snapped impatiently, sure that whatever it was could hardly be worth bothering him for. Secretly, he was grateful for the distraction, but he would never tell the demon lackey.
One day, I won’t need to depend on Vaughan for information on the world outside. One day soon.
“I have word that the Council of Seven has been discussing your whereabouts again,” Vaughan said. “Theo has reinstated the order to find you, and Raven has approved it, as has Lane Aldwin.”
Fury spiked through Helios, and he whipped his head around, his face twisted into a sneer of disgust. He came to bring me bad news? How dare he!
“What brought this about?” he demanded. “There has been nothing but silence for three centuries! When will they ever give up? Fools. All of them.”
Would they never learn their lesson? How cou
ld they hope to capture him when he was so masterful at being elusive?
“Who can say, sire? You know the matter arises every now and again,” Vaughan reminded him. “You must not take it personally and merely ride it out as you always do.”
“Indeed,” Helios muttered. “Indeed it does arise.”
And it will continue to arise until I do something about it, he thought grimly. He turned back to the lake, his mind whirling as he considered his lackey’s words. They shouldn’t have surprised him. He had been hiding for the better part of a thousand years, mostly underground, as the search for his broken body continued.
Yet after Alaric had finally died, Helios had mistakenly believed that the search for him would be forsaken. It had not occurred to him that the wizard hybrid’s death warrant would extend beyond his mortality, an error which had almost cost Helios his life for the second time. It was baffling to him that the search for his whereabouts would continue when the leaders of the Enchanted had already taken so much from him.
I must get my hands on that sword, and then I will avenge Carina by any means necessary.
The problem, of course, was that he had no idea where the weapon had gone. After years of literally living under the earth, he had lost track of the device, and with Alaric’s passing, it was impossible to glean where it might have ended up.
For centuries, I trolled the sewers and lived like a rat to avoid capture whilst hoping for word on the sword, but all I did was fight off a plague. I am no closer to finding the sword or my revenge than I was a thousand years ago.
Had the weapon been passed into demon hands or been bequeathed to Lane, the Aldwin witch on the Council? Or perhaps the cursed werebear had taken it as a means of safety? It didn’t much matter—Helios knew he would find it eventually. He had nothing if not time.
